Stuart Attwell (28) is the most promising English referee. He started in 1998 and was promoted to the National List in 2007. After only one season in the Football League, Attwell was promoted in 2008 to the Select Group and became a professional match official. He refereed his first Premier League match in August 2008, when he was only 25, which made him the youngest referee ever in the England's top flight. Five months later, he became England's youngest FIFA Referee.

"It's a fantastic honour to be selected for the tournament in the first place, and it's nice for all the hard work we've put in as a team to be recognised in the final," Attwell told UEFA.com. "Our job is to make sure people talk about the football and hopefully we've done that." The Englishman was fourth official for the Czech Republic-Serbia semi-final, a role he also held when the Czechs overcame Greece on Matchday 3, while he was referee for the group games between Romania and Greece and Spain and Belgium, the latter match initially having to be abandoned due to adverse weather conditions. "That was an interesting situation to address, but there was good co-operation from UEFA and the Romanian authorities, and we reached what I think was the right decision," he explained. "That teamwork has been reflected across the whole tournament, it's been a positive environment for us all."

The two finalists are fine-tuning their plans for Monday's game, and the officiating team are no different. "We'll carry on as normal, we prepare thoroughly and professionally for every game and we won't be doing anything different so we can make sure we're in the best possible frame of mind," Attwell explained. "We'll do our usual physical training over the next couple of days, and some technical training too to make sure we're coming from a position of consistency. "It's the same attitude and approach for every game; the refereeing teams, both the officials themselves and the support staff, has been first class and that's what's made for a fantastic tournament," he added. "We'll continue our hard work and by doing that, hopefully we'll go unnoticed. That's what we want – we want people to go away from the final talking about the football."

The second leg match between Myanmar and Oman in the 2014 FIFA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, on 28 July 2011, was brought to a sudden halt by the referee Ryuji Sato (JPN)in the 90+2 minute after local supporters repeatedly hurled objects on to the field. The score at the time of interruption stood at 2-0 for Oman, who had also won the first leg 2-0.

The Bureau of the Organising Committee of the FIFA World Cup has confirmed that the result standing at the time of the interruption of the match (2-0 for Oman) is final. Therefore, Oman have qualified for the next round of Asia’s preliminary competition. Furthermore, the matter will be referred to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

Colombian referee Hector Parra (37) failed the fitness test for the U-20 World Cup 2011 that will start this week in Colombia. He was initially selected as a reserve referee and FIFA decided to replace him with another referee from the host country, Jose Buitrago (41, photo), who participated in the FIFA U-20 World Cup 2007 in Canada and the FIFA U-17 World Cup 2007 in Korea.

CONMEBOL appointed Salvio Spinola Fagundes Filho (BRA) for the 2011 Copa America Final. Fagundes (42) has been on the FIFA List of match officials since 2005 and refereed at the 2007 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Korea, the 2009 CONMEBOL U-20 Championship, as well as Copa Libertadores, Copa Sudamericana and World Cup qualifiers in South America.

As a policewoman and Germany's first female referee in the men's professional football league, Bibiana Steinhaus is used to maintaining order. She is a tough person to reach this week. Punch her number into your phone and the best you're likely to get is her voicemail: "You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can, and will, be used against you in the court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you can't afford one, then please leave a message after the tone." Steinhaus' voicemail greeting is fitting given her professions. Both as a police officer and as a professional soccer referee, her responsibility is to "monitor and ensure that rules and laws are being obeyed, and that people aren't trying to make them themselves", she told Spiegel.

At just 32, Steinhaus has been involved in football for much of her life. As a girl, she says, she was "almost talentless" on the pitch as a defender. At 16, she decided to stick with the sport, but instead of continuing as a player she became a referee. First, she blew the whistle in matches in her hometown in Germany's Harz region. Later, she refereed in the women's regional league, and in 2007 she became the first female referee in the second tier of Germany's professional football league, the Bundesliga. Steinhaus now has her sights set even higher. After finishing high school, the "First Lady" of German referees, as Steinhaus is often called, completed training to become a police officer. As a member of the police force, her assignments have often been for events that make as many headlines as the Women's World Cup, such as ensuring public order as nuclear waste is transported across Germany or at the 2007 G-8 summit at Heligendamm. Steinhaus is still a police commissioner in the state of Lower Saxony, and she even had to put in overtime so she could get enough time off to referee at the Women's World Cup. She doesn't like to discuss her double life as a police officer and a referee because she wants to ensure that she always comes across as neutral, and does not want to open herself up to criticism. She has in the past, however, drawn some parallels between the two careers. "You have to acquire expertise, internalize it and use it in accordance with the law and make decisions". (Source: Spiegel)

Bibiana Steinhaus took up refereeing in 1995 and became a FIFA Referee in 2005. She participated in the FIFA U-20 Women's World Cups 2008 (Chile) and 2010 (Germany), as well as the UEFA Women's Euro 2009 in England. Steinhaus was voted Germany's Woman Referee of the Year in 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011.

FIFA appointed Kari Seitz (40) for the bronze medal match Sweden - France. An advertising executive in San Matteo (USA), she started refereeing in 1990 and received her FIFA Badge in 1999. In the same year, Seitz was selected for her first FIFA Women's World Cup. Since then, she never missed another Women's World Cup, being present in USA (2003), China (2007) and Germany (2011), becoming the only referee in the world (male or female) who participated in 4 World Cups. If she will keep refereeing after this third place match in Germany, she would be age-eligible for a fifth World Cup! Seitz also refereed twice at the Olympic Games (2004 and 2008), as well as the Women's Euro 2005 in England.﻿

FIFA is pleased to announce the appointment of Massimo Busacca as the Head of the FIFA Refereeing Department. Having recently called time on his refereeing career, the former Swiss international referee will join the ranks of world football’s governing body on 1 August 2011.

“As I have said on many occasions, I have made refereeing one of my main priorities. Massimo Busacca’s experience will prove to be particularly useful to our mission and to our efforts to continue the groundwork we have put in place with the confederations and member associations in this particularly important area. I am very happy that he has joined us,” said FIFA President Joseph S. Blatter.

During a refereeing career spanning more than 20 years, including 12 as an international referee, Massimo Busacca officiated at two FIFA World Cups (2006 and 2010) as well as at EURO 2008. He also took charge of the UEFA Champions League final in 2009, the UEFA Cup final in 2007 and the UEFA Super Cup in 2010. In addition, he also refereed more than 250 matches in the Swiss top flight, the AXPO Super League. Busacca, who is 42, married and multilingual (Italian, English, French, German and Spanish), is also a member of the new FIFA Task Force Football 2014 chaired by Franz Beckenbauer. “I have learned an enormous amount during the years I have dedicated to refereeing. I now intend to pass that knowledge on to my refereeing colleagues to ensure that refereeing continues to improve and to help it to prepare better for the future. This is something that I am very passionate about, and it is a role that I have accepted with great pride and pleasure. I would like to thank FIFA for the faith they have placed in me,” said the new Head of FIFA’s Refereeing Department.

Svein Oddvar Moen took up refereeing in 1995 and became a FIFA referee in 2005. In September 2010, he was assigned his first UEFA Champions League match and was promoted onto the Elite Referees List in 2011.

Referee Carlos Amarilla (PAR) and assistant referee Marcio Santiago (BRA), who initially failed the fitness test, were allowed to repeat the test and both passed, so they are back amongst the match officials for Copa America 2011. Santiago has already been appointed for Argentina - Colombia, while Amarilla will referee Uruguay - Chile.